The Detail
Publisher: Bantam Press
Publication Date: 4th February 2020
Pages: 352
Six strangers with one universal thing in common: their lives aren’t always what they make them out to be.
But what would happen if they told the truth instead?
Desperate to confess the deep loneliness he feels, Julian begins The Authenticity Project – a small green notebook containing the truth about his life – to pass on and encourage others to share their own.
Leaving it on a table in Monica’s café, a warm, friendly place where Julian escapes at his most lonely moments, he never expects Monica to find it and track him down. Or that his small act of honesty will impact all those who come into contact with the book, and lead to a life-changing world of friendship and forgiveness…
THE SUNDAY FEELING’S REVIEW
Over the past 6 months I have been branching out a little in my reading habits. As well as giving new genres a try, I am also re discovering my love for old favourites too. I used to love a chick lit/contemporary, but was under the impression my reading taste had outgrown the genre. It turns out I was either just picking up the wrong books, or I just needed a break.
I got myself into a little reading slump at the start of Feb, so after seeing the The Authenticity Project being described as uplifting and unforgettable, I decided to nab myself a copy. It arrived the following day so I jumped straight in, and even with a busy weekend schedule, finished it 2 days later. A definite page turner.
The plot is super cute, but more interesting it is incredibly clever. We start by following 2 main protagonists Julian and Monica after Julian leaves a notebook in Monica’s Cafe. We follow as Monica begins reading and learning about Julian and some ways he intends to become more honest, open and authentic. However, it’s then Monica’s turn to write in the book and ‘pass it on’, and from there we meet a whole chain of lonely, disappointed, addictive, bored, passionate people. We learn all about what they really want in life and where they feel they should have made some changes, but as we should know by now, all is not what it seems.
I adored this book so much, and I believe it was all down to character development. Don’t get me wrong, each character’s plot line was great, but the transition each of the characters made was what did it for me. It is probably the book I have appreciated for being character driven rather than plot driven.
I loved the way Clare bought a whole host of characters together and created a sense of community within their friendships. I liked how each character was very different, yet bonded so easily, and I like how not everything was perfect – the characters were flawed, just like the rest of us.
The reason I think I connected with this book so much was the message written into the characters. Even though is has a fun premise, there are so many lessons to be taken from this book. It was a little hard hitting in places and I think it could definitely trigger quite a few people, but I still came out of it with a smile on my face.
A very popular phase that comes to mind when I think about this book,
“The Grass is Not Always Greener on The Other Side”
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